Archive

First is this. The last time the Penguins had a Hershey-Bridgeport weekend, they scored only one goal. They seemed to break out offensively last weekend against Binghamton and Syracuse. Will the offense keep firing now that another Bears-Tigers weekend is on tap? Keep in mind, the Penguins haven't scored against Hershey in the last three meetings between the teams.

Second, there's the Bridgeport rematch. I was asking Aaron Boogaard whether he thought the bad blood would carry over and he said there were definitely some scores that needed to be settled. At that point, Wade Brookbank sat down in his locker, which is right next to Boogaard's, and told his younger teammate that he shouldn't say stuff like that. Brookbank, a veteran of more than a couple of these rematch-style games, is of the opinion that some pre-game thoughts don't need to be shared.

It's not like Boogaard said anything inflammatory. It won't end up on a bulletin board or anything like that. I just share the story because it reminded me of that story Robert Duvall tells Sean Penn in the movie Colors about the father bull and his son standing on top of a hill and looking at the cows grazing in the field below. I'll stop there because it gets off color, but if you've seen the movie, you know what I'm talking about. If not, you can probably find it on You Tube.

Brookbank, incidentally, said his knee injury is a nagging one but since he's been fitted with a new brace, he should be ready to go this weekend. Ben Lovejoy looks good to go this weekend as well. The only player still in the red no-contact jersey is Eric Tangradi. Adam Berkhoel was at practice today, but word out of Wheeling is that he and Lane Caffaro have been assigned to the Nailers. Berkhoel hasn't seen game action since the playoffs, so the move makes sense on that front.

Before I go, isn't this Michael Nylander situation a weird one? I understand why no one wants him. He has a $5.5 million contract with a no-movement clause. I understand why the Caps would want him to go to the AHL for a conditioning stint. Even a KHL team isn't going to want him if he's rusty. I don't understand why he ended up in Grand Rapids. Are you buying that bit about the Caps not wanting him to take ice time from prospects in Hershey? An odd tale indeed.

All eight defensemen were on the ice for practice today, so if there's a call-up coming, it hadn't happened as of 12:30 when I talked to coach Todd Reirden.

Pittsburgh won't really need an extra defenseman until they head out west early next month. If they want one, it's hard to really say who would be first in line. I'd guess Nate Guenin, since he seemed to have the best training camp, just slightly ahead of Deryk Engelland. Ben Lovejoy is just getting back from a shoulder injury, but he could easily play four or five games here then join the NHL club for the western swing. If the decision were based simply on which D played the best in the first five WBS games this season, I'd probably pick Chris Lee, but the rookie pair of Robert Bortuzzo and Brian Strait have been solid too.

Bottom line: Any of these guys could watch from the press box or play limited minutes on a third D pair with no problem at all. None would be a disaster. Are any of them going to step in and make a significant positive impact? That's a different question entirely.

Incidentally, judging by practice pairings today, it'll be Lovejoy-Guenin and Strait-Engelland with Lee-Bortuzzo intact and Caffaro-D'Aversa as the extras. That's just how they were working in the one drill where I was taking note of who skated with whom. Don't write it in pen or anything.

A goalie move, incidentally, seems imminent here too. Adam Berkhoel is coming back from his knee injury and Brad Thiessen hasn't played a game that counts yet in a Penguins uniform. One of them will be off to Wheeling to get some playing time soon, I would imagine.

@icetime: Glad you found a good spot to watch the game. @mh26/slugger: Get this. If I bought the hockey package or baseball package online, Penguins and Pirates games would be blacked out because I live in FSN Pittsburgh territory, yet my cable company doesn't carry FSN Pittsburgh and I can't get the dish because I live too close to the tree line. I'm standing here with my checkbook in my hand willing to pay to watch games, and the NHL and MLB won't take it. Irritating.

One link before I go: The Chicago Wolves hired Don Lever as coach. This looks like a great pick-up to me because I always thought Lever did a great job in Hamilton. And he's from South Porcupine, Ontario, which is a funny name for a town.

For your weekly first-practice-of-the-week medical report, here you go. Ben Lovejoy has the red jersey off and is on track to play this weekend. Eric Tangradi and Wade Brookbank are skating with the red jerseys. Coach Todd Reirden said Brookbank is closer to returning than Tangradi is.

Lovejoy's return will shuffle up the D pairings, no doubt. Deryk Engelland and Nate Guenin are both, individually, strong stay-at-home defensemen, but together, they've been on the ice for quite a few goals against in the early going. (Engelland is -5 and Guenin -4). The rookies, Bortuzzo and Strait, have been unexpectedly solid. D'Aversa had that brutal play against Bridgeport, but he's been fine otherwise and on a team that lacks puck-moving D and power-play point men, he might need to be in there. Like I said, some shuffling is in order.

@Tom: I talked to Reirden about the Veilleux scratches. I'll be writing about the topic this weekend, so I'll get into it more then, but to sum up, he basically said that with the competitive situation for ice time at forward, Veilleux's battle level has to be at 100 percent at all times. If it's not, he'll be scratched and learning how to deal with a healthy scratch is an important part of any young player's development.

@Jeff: I've never been able to figure out a pattern as far as who does a conditioning stint and who doesn't. It seems to be decided totally on a case-by-case basis. When the time for a Talbot return gets closer, I'll make sure to ask if one is planned for him.

@Icetime87: I have my quarrels with Service Electric, but it's always had Versus, so I've never gone in search of a bar or restaurant looking for that channel in particular. Maybe one of the readers on the West Side can suggest a spot. What you're looking for is a place that has games on but doesn't have Direct TV. I think all the usual spots I would recommend do have Direct TV. This might not be as simple as it sounds.

And a trade in the East Division today: Adirondack gets Stefan Legein and Syracuse gets Michael Ratchuk. Legein needed a fresh start because while he might never shake the bad reputation he got when he "retired" before last season, he definitely wouldn't have shook it in the Columbus organization.

Finally, @nafs, there is only one phrase I can think of when confronted with the fact that Andy Wozniewski is leading the AHL in scoring. This is it. (I think I've linked to that clip before, but fair warning anyway: It includes a profanity so don't click if you're at work in the same room as a 4-year-old.)

No on-ice practice for the Penguins today as they completed physical testing prescribed by Pittsburgh's staff. But fret not, I've got at least two interesting links to pass on.

– What do you do when your AHL team is off to a 1-5 start? If you're the Chicago Wolves, you fire your coaching staff. And here's one for all you Pittsburgh nostaglia buffs. While a search for a new coach is ongoing, Wendell Young and Gene Ubriaco will be running the show. I can't imagine any other AHL team doing something like this so soon. The Wolves really do dance to the beat of a different drummer in this league.

– Wonder what happened to Mike Zigomanis when the Penguins didn't re-sign him? He just joined the Toronto Marlies on a tryout contract. Now that Sidney Crosby is in the top 10 in the NHL in faceoff percentage (99-66, .600), you don't hear as much talk about how bad the parent Penguins are in the faceoff circle. The rest of their centers' stats so far this season, in case you were wondering: Staal 60-66 (.476), Adams 39-40 (.494), Malkin 18-30 (.375).

I'm not sure this is an accurate way to frame it, but if the choice was between re-signing Zigomanis and Craig Adams, you'd have to say the Penguins made the right call. Adams has been dynamite in the early going in the games I've watched. Mike Rupp too. It's hard to argue with the construction of Pittsburgh's bottom six at this point.

To a couple of comments before I go:

– @Jack and Blackblood: There might be some merit to the hot goalie argument last weekend, or along the same lines, an argument based on strength of opposition. Perhaps the Penguins struggled last weekend because Hershey and Bridgeport are the best two teams in the conference. Just a thought. It's the same opponents next weekend, so that'll be a good test to see how far along the Penguins are.

– @Tom: It seems to me that the Penguins are making sure Veilleux realizes he has to earn his spot in the lineup every night. He has a reputation for not giving a consistent effort, and fair or not, that reputation precedes him to Wilkes-Barre. He might have to actually work harder than the other rookies to shake that tag.

You guys know I'm not a huge shootout fan, but the first one of the season is always interesting. It's hard to tell if a team is going to be a good or bad shootout team until you see one.

There was some reason for the Penguins to worry in this department, largely because Janne Pesonen, who was a phenomenal 9-for-11 last year, is gone. Most of the rest of the shootout lineup from last year (Satan 2-3, James 1-2, Daoust 1-4, Taffe 1-8, Minard 0-2. Goligoski 0-2) moved on as well.

So who was back? Mark Letestu, who went 4-for-8 last year and converted his chance tonight. And most importantly, John Curry, who stopped all four Syracuse shooters tonight to improve to 6-1 in shootouts since the start of last season. The book on Curry must be that he has a bad glove hand because all four Crunch shooters went that way. I've seen Curry play tons of games and I always thought he had a decent glove. Not great, not bad. Regardless, it was pretty good tonight.

Some other notes from tonight:

– Syracuse was the first team to really successfully attack the Penguins penalty kill so far this season, going 2-for-3. Not sure there are any lessons for the Penguins to learn from it. It was a couple of pucks knocked out of a couple of net-front scrums.

– Derek MacKenzie's shorthanded goal with about 6 minutes left gave the Crunch a 3-2 lead and looked like a crushing blow to the Penguins. Curry said he felt terrible about letting it in. He said a Penguins defender got to MacKenzie just as he shot, so instead of the high, hard shot Curry was expecting, he got a change-up sliding between his pads. The Penguins tied the score less than a minute later on Ryan Bayda's second goal of the game, a shot from the high slot that hit goalie Dan LaCosta's stick, popped up over his head and slowly plopped across the goal line. Curry said he's never been happier to see a puck go in.

– Mark Letestu was really good again. He created tons of scoring chances. Chris Conner was all over the place too.

Two notes from elsewhere before I go.

– How about the comeback story of Guillaume Lefebvre. He last played in the NHL in Pittsburgh in 2006. He spent the next two seasons in the Quebec-based LNAH goon league. I believe he was playing in that league part time while working on his degree, but don't quote me on that. Anyway, he got an invite to Edmonton camp last season and played a hard-nosed year in Springfield. He signed in Providence this season and today, completed the comeback when he was called up to replace an injured Milan Lucic in Phoenix. Like I said, great story.

– Finally, how about the job Andy Chiodo did in the second period for Binghamton tonight. Hershey took 27 shots in the period, the most ine one AHL period in more than two years. Chiodo stopped 26 of them. The story doesn't have a happy ending for Chiodo, however, because Alex Giroux scored in overtime to give the Bears a 3-2 win. Michael Sharp has the story from Binghamton.

Facing one of the league's toughest customers in Binghamton's Jeremy Yablonski less than a week after the Trevor Gillies business last Saturday, I thought it might be an important game for Aaron Boogaard tonight.

It was, but not for those reasons. Boogaard's slap shot goal from the right wing beat Andy Chiodo and gave the Penguins a 4-2 lead after Binghamton had rallied from a 3-0 deficit to make the score 3-2. It was the game winner as the final ended up being 6-3.

The Penguins couldn't have scripted a better start to the game after struggling with an anemic offense in two games last weekend. Deryk Engelland sprung Chris Conner for a breakaway goal in the first minute, then Nick Johnson and Ryan Bayda scored power-play goals less than two minutes apart to chase Mike Brodeur and make the score 3-0 before the game was eight minutes old.

Conner was the No. 1 star. He made an impressive play to set up the goal that made the score 5-2 early in the third period, flying up the right wing with reckless abandon and slamming into the end boards while making a cross-crease pass to Konstantin Pushkarev.

@nafs: You were right. Letestu made a big difference, especially on the power play, which went 3-for-5. He had two assists in his first game back from Sept. 21 knee surgery.

Chiodo was pretty good in relief. He stopped the first 13 shots he faced to let Binghamton get back in the game. The Boogaard goal was a killer for him, though.

Meanwhile, in South Carolina, Wheeling rallied from a 4-1 deficit to get within a goal but lost their season opener 5-4. Andrew Lord, Joey Haddad, T.J. Fox and Thomas Beauregard had the goals.

I gotta run because I have to do some work on the first Sunday Penguins page of the season before I head home tonight. Make sure to check that out.

– With Eric Tangradi (shoulder) out, Luca Caputi gets the coveted spot next to Wyatt Smith and Chris Conner, who have shown chemistry so far this season. Caputi has been all around the net since he arrived for camp in Pittsburgh. If he starts finishing some of those chances, this line could be dangerous.

– Mark Letestu and Nick Johnson were dynamite with Janne Pesonen last season. Could they be effective with Ryan Bayda on the left wing? Pesonen and Bayda, needless to say, are completely different players.

– Tim Wallace returns to the lineup after missing a game as a healthy scratch.

– With Wade Brookbank (knee) out, Jesse Bouleruice is in line to make his Penguins debut.

So, like I said, plenty to keep an eye on this weekend.

I would also be remiss if I didn't recount a dramatic finish to Mustache Boy at the end of practice today. Just four contestants — Konstantin Pushkarev, Nick Johnson, assistant coach John Hynes and Ben Lovejoy — remained. One by one, Pushkarev, Johnson and Hynes all scored on their attempts. As Lovejoy picked up the puck, his teammates began to rhythmically tap their sticks on the ice. If he scored, the final four were all back in the running. If he did not, Lovejoy would have to wear a mustache for a month. Lovejoy fired low blocker … and hit his target. "Only big goals," he joked afterwards. Hynes eventually took the loss. No word on whether he plans to grow the mustache or pay the buyout.

Finally, @stonefan, Goonies is my wife's favorite movie (don't ask me; ask her) so I've seen that video. It is indeed a classic. In tribute, here's an awesome Capt. Lou promo about a match featuring the Giant Machine at Madison Square Garden. They don't make them like this anymore. RIP, Capt. Lou.

Spent some time after practice talking to Joe Vitale and Robert Bortuzzo about their roles in Saturday's fracas at the arena. Three games into their rookie seasons, Vitale is ninth in the league in penalty minutes and Bortuzzo has a black eye from a Trevor Gillies attack (for which Gilles was suspended two games today).

Neither seemed upset or surprised about how their first two weeks as pros have gone. They seemed totally cool with it, in fact. Eric Tangradi sits next to Vitale in the rookie locker room and he told Vitale that if he had played junior instead of going to college, he'd be the next Sean Avery by now. I don't think Vitale is that big a rat, but you get the point. Anyway, story about those two guys in tomorrow's paper.

Also, the Quiz for the Cup was pretty popular on the Sunday page a few years ago, so we're bringing it back this season. Vitale is the first contestant. A sample question: You went to Northeastern. What Northeastern grad led the NHL in penalty minutes in back-to-back seasons in the 80s?

@Pensfan44: I'd be surprised if the Penguins were interested in Brunnstrom at this time. From what I hear, the folks in Pittsburgh are very pleased with how things are going so far. They're 4-1 and Malkin and Crosby haven't totally hit their strides yet. Not generally the time to make a deal.

@Jack: I think that incident Saturday was an interesting spot for Reirden. The Gillies-Morency-Haley line is obviously capable of havoc, but are you going to counter with your toughest guys every shift they take? Engelland-Guenin is a pretty tough D pair, but it's also your shutdown D pair. Do you want to have them out there for the Morency shift, then sitting in the penalty box or on the bench when Bridgeport rolls its top line next? Plus, it's a one-goal game. Do you expect the Morency line to act up on that particular shift? I think the answer is to have Wade Brookbank out there in case things go haywire, but he hurt his knee earlier in the game. Aaron Boogaard is a very capable fighter, but he's not exactly a calming presence like Brookbank is at this stage of his career. It's easy to second guess now, but how do you handle it at the time?

Practice was canceled this morning, which, as I've mentioned on the blog before, is like a snow day for a beat writer. Since I was off last weekend, this is like having a snow day the Tuesday after Christmas break, but that's OK. At least I won't have to make it up in June. I don't know what off-ice stuff the team did today, but believe me, lack of practice time is not an issue in the early part of the season. In fact, in October, the Penguins will have roughly twice as many practices as games (18 to 9). It's very much like a college schedule.

With a lack of practice today, let's turn our attention elsewhere. Did you guys see the Bissonnette-Shelley fight last night? It wasn't a knockout or anything, but Bissonnette totally manhandled the veteran Shelley with his left hand (the one that was surgically repaired in the offseason). A very positive result for Bissonnette. According to the readers of dropyourgloves.com, Bissonnette is now 10-2-2 in NHL fights in his career.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

One thing I forgot to mention yesterday on the blog. Did you notice Tim Wallace was a healthy scratch against Bridgeport on Saturday? Apparently, he didn't play well on Friday, so he took a seat in the stands. That's a pretty good indication of the internal competition for playing time that's going on with this team right now. Have a bad game, even if you're a veteran, and your spot is in jeopardy.

Here's an interesting link that shows the depth they've got in Hershey at this point. Braden Holtby, the kid who owned the Penguins on Friday, can't even crack the Bears lineup. It makes sense that he play regularly in South Carolina rather than infrequently behind Michal Neuvirth, but you get the point.

Remember Al Sims, who was Joey Mullen's assistant coach with the Penguins after Michel Therrien got called up to Pittsburgh. This transaction might make for some awkward conversation around the dinner table.

Here's a story about Toronto's Jay Rosehill's climb to the NHL. I'm not 100 percent sure of this, but I believe Rosehill's path to Toronto has Dennis Bonvie's fingerprints on it. I think he recommended Rosehill to the Leafs front office when he was scouting for them last season. I know Bonvie always thought highly of Rosehill. He was the opponent for Bonvie's last regular-season fight as well, if you'll recall.

Good to see you guys kept it lively in the comments while I was gone. Let's get right down to business with some personnel updates:

– Eric Tangradi (shoulder) and Wade Brookbank (knee) did not practice after being injured early in Saturday's game with Bridgeport. Coach Todd Reirden said they'll be out about two weeks.

– Ben Lovejoy (shoulder) practiced wearing a red jersey but did more work handling the puck. Reirden said he could be back as soon as the weekend of the 23rd.

– Mark Letestu (knee) is out of the red jersey and is on track to play this weekend.

– Chris Lee is wearing a full shield after taking a slap shot in the face Saturday. No bones were broken. Robert Bortuzzo and Joe Vitale seemed fine after taking some abuse in the Bridgeport game as well.

As for the games last weekend, one way to sum it up is with a stat — 74 shots and one goal. To me, that means there's effort but no finish. Let's face it. This team was playing without five of its top six scorers from last season and there's no Chris Minard-style sniper who can camp out at the faceoff dot and wire one-timers all day long. Therefore, things are going to go one of two ways. Either a) they'll figure out how to score as five-man units or b) they'll limp along as an offensively challenged team all year long. Let's revisit this around Game 20 and see what's what.

Regarding the Bridgeport line brawl, I have a few thoughts. Robert Bortuzzo cannot be taking a beating from Trevor Gillies like that. Can't happen. Whether you say Gillies is at fault for jumping a player who wasn't a willing combatant or you say the Penguins need to do a better job of accounting for someone like Gillies when (or before) a brawl breaks out or you say the officials are somehow to blame, that can't happen. Bortuzzo is a stay-at-home defenseman with a physical component to his game. He'll have to fight every now and then and I'm sure he's fine with that. His two fights in rookie games in Kitchener show that. But he doesn't need to be eating punches from a rampaging Trevor Gillies.

One final story before I go. When I ran into Andy Chiodo before one of the exhibition games with Binghamton, I told him it would take some of his old playoff magic to stop Hershey from being the team to come out of the East Division this season. He asked me if Hershey was really that good. After Saturday night, he probably knows what I meant. The Bears scored six on him on 29 shots in two periods en route to an 8-1 win.

A winner of first-place honors in the blogging category of the 2012 Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors awards, Penguins Insider was created to give local hockey fans an interactive, in-depth way to follow the team they so passionately support. The blog's author, beat writer Jonathan Bombulie, has been covering the team since its inception in 1999. Contact him at jbombulie@aol.com

Visit the WBS Penguins page at citizensvoice.com for Penguins stories, photos and more.